Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Just finished my second project for Kids Clothes Week, this time for my oldest.

I bought the Olivia and Oliver Coat from Peak-A-Boo Patterns (affiliate links) last fall, but just barely got around to sewing one up. I had to grade it up a bit for my 10 year old, since the pattern only goes to a size 8. But not that much. It’s a pretty roomy-designed coat, made for layering.

The coat is fully lined and I added a hood because, well, hoods are cool. Inspired by a men’s pea coat I found online, I also added welt pockets at the hip, epaulets at the shoulders, and a banded waist.

The pattern just has a solid back panel, but I wanted the coat to have more interest at all angles. So I cut the back panel up and gave the coat a yoke and a center back seam, which does not look centered here for some reason…

The outer fabric is some poly-cotton blend sweatshirt fleece I picked up on clearance at Jo-Ann for a song a few months ago. I think I paid $1.50 a yard. I know! Yes, I bought the whole bolt. The awesome argyle jersey lining is from Girl Charlee. It’s a bit thin, but the sweatshirt fleece is plenty thick enough to have not even used a lining. So the lining is pretty much just to make things look rad. Which I think it does quite well. No exposed seams on this coat, thank you very much.

The banded waist didn’t turn out like I wanted. I made it slightly shorter than the actual hem of the coat, so it brings the body of the coat in and changes the whole shape. It’s not horrible, but it’s not what I envisioned when I started, and so it bugs. I think it bothers me because it makes the coat look too big. If it hit at the waist, I think the band would look fine. But hitting at the low hip and coming in, it just makes it look too long. Oh well. It’s still a pretty sweet coat.

Love this one! I saw it on my phone earlier today, but had to come back and comment because it was so great. I love sweatshirt fabric... I made a tied quilt for my husband with it as backing once (we were dating. I was trying to woo him) with the soft, fluffy side out. It is all pilly now but dang, that was one soft blanket!